I’ve tried searching for this question and answer but could not find it, so please forgive me if it’s posted elsewhere. How should I mount the Shapeoko Standard Size to a table/bench - right now, I just have it sitting on a 2’x4’ 3/4" piece of Plywood. When I’m cutting, I see it moving and jerking around a bit. So my question is, should I mount it more permanently to the plywood? I’m happy to make the plywood into a torsion box if that will help keep it stable and reduce vibration/noise. And then if physically attached to the base, does the base need to be secured to something rigid? Right now my plywood is just sitting on the bench with the SO3 sitting on the plywood.
I’m thinking if it’s mounted (vs. just sitting), it will move less during cuts.
I got some gym floor mats to insulate vibrations and give it a grippy surface to mount to. I know some people use a foam sheet as well.
We don’t have anything other than a reasonable sized recess on the left and right for the makerspaces XXL.
I replaced the stock feet with anti skid feet used on furniture (sorry cannot find the specific ones). The S03 is sitting on a 3/4in piece of MDF. The MDF is sitting on top of four 16x16 concrete pavers. Under the pavers are gym floor mats. The added mass of the MDF and the pavers reduces vibrations and the floor mats prevents those vibrations going into my enclosure.
I dropped the feet and my machine is seated on 3/4" MDF with hole to accomodate the welded nuts under the frame, and a piece of thin wood + felt inserted between the front and back plates.
(aluminium bed in the pic, but the same would work with the original MDF baseboard)
FWIW
I removed the feet and the stock board and the support brackets.
Used deck screws to secure the shapeoko to the table and built my work bed on top of the table.
I used 2 sheets of 1"x 36"x 18" edge glued pine placed side by side for the work bed with 2 sheets of 0.202" sub-flooring under the board to raise the work bed above the bottom lip of the frame.
My work table is on 4"x4" legs with 2"x4" framing for the top. All angles are braced. It is pretty sturdy.
I mounted mine on strips of vibration isolation rubber. They fully support the frame so the bed doesn’t sag or flex (XXL). I removed the feet and used lag screws to hold the frame in place. I used rubber washers under the screw heads to reduce vibration transmission. Lastly, it’s mounted on a torsion box made from a grid of 1x4’s on 12" centers and 3/4" MDF skins. It’s rock solid.
One thing to note; be careful if you lag the frame down, not to over-tighten the screws. When you mount it this way, a very small amount of downward force on the mounting lugs will cause the frame to distort. I just tightened them enough for the rubber washers under the screw heads to make contact, and no more. Another thing to note is that after I mounted my machine this way, I had EMI issues when running the dust collector. Grounding the DC hose resolved it. But I suspect the rubber vibration isolation also eliminated a static dissipation path, leading to that path going through the controller board.
Wow - I might have to look into this Dewalt stand. Same original question - would you still need to clamp/bolt the base to the stand? Or else it will vibrate/move during cuts, right?
Yes, the Shapeoko forum post specifically mentions that things line up for bolting together — I was planning on using some heavy rubber washers for that.
it goes down easy requires some effort to pull up. But it works well.
I dont store it standing up im concerned about the pressure on the y rail for a long period
requires some effort to pull up. But it works well.